I shouldn't even be here today
by Keirra
Summary: Law looses a bet and Nami's day ends up being more interesting as a result. Total alternate universe here and lots of ooc because let's be honest, neither of them would ever be in this situation.
1. Chapter 1

A/n: This was going to be a short drabble and then I got carried away…like really carried away. But I giggled to myself the entire time I wrote it so long drabble it is.

* * *

Law looked down at the list in his hands for what must have been the hundredth time. He could not believe this was really happening. He had been so sure he would win the bet with Shachi he hadn't bothered to find out just what he would have to pay if he lost. He sighed heavily, glaring at the neon sign on the outside of the building in front of him.

Law did not like shopping, unless it was for books or medical supplies. He did not like crowds, or really people in general. Most of all he did not like making a fool of himself. However he was a man of his word, and if he didn't go through with at least some of this list he would never hear the end of it

He headed into the store, well aware of his Shachi and Penguin following him. Once inside the store he glanced at the paper one last time before folding it and sliding it into his pocket.

Well, he thought, let's get this over with.

* * *

Nami was not having a good day. Luffy had locked himself out of his apartment last night so he had crashed at her place. Not only had he kept her up all night with his whining for her to "play" with him, he had also eaten most of what was in her fridge and broken her favorite coffee mug. Now, on her day off, she was being called into work because someone else hadn't shown up.

So here she was, bright and early, trudging into work when suddenly a man she had never seen before (a customer?) was standing in front of her. He was tall, lean, tattooed, and a little scruffy looking in his bright yellow hoodie and poofy white hat. He leaned over so his face was level with hers and spoke in a serious, almost grave, tone.

"Would you be so kind as to direct me to your Twinkies?"

Surprised by the mundane request in the serious tone, Nami stared at him for a moment and before she recovered he had straightened and walked away briskly. Figures, she thought to herself, the weirdos are out. I'm not even supposed to be here today!

She shook her head, brushing aside all thoughts of the strange man, and went to clock in. The first part of her day was to be spent on the floor, restocking and straightening shelves.

No more than twenty minutes into her shift she saw the strange man again. She was folding some graphic t-shirts in the men's department and he was standing near the display of ball caps. Normally that wouldn't seem strange at all, maybe he was looking over the products to decide if he wanted one, but that wasn't the case. He was standing completely still and staring at the ceiling. I glanced upwards, wondering if there was something out of place up there. We had once had a bird get stuck in the store and nest up by the roof so maybe that had happened again. I couldn't see anything of interest and lowered my gaze to see that he was gone. Great, now the weirdos were getting to me too, she thought, grumbling under her breath about how she wasn't supposed to be here today.

After she had finished folding the shirts she headed over to the toy department. Her boss had asked her to make sure the action figure's were properly sorted into their different bins. When she turned to enter the aisle she just stood, dumbstruck, at what she found. Someone had emptied the bins, strategically setting up each and every figure into what look like a full scale battlefield. It appeared to be a war between the characters from DC Comics and the Marvel franchise. On the right Thor was battling with Superman, on the left it was Aquaman verses Miss Marvel. Overall it looked like team Marvel was winning the "war". Sighing to herself about the extra work, Nami set about putting all the toys back where they belonged. If she saw a flash of yellow in the corner of her eye as she worked she paid it no mind.

Work moved along smoothly for the next hour or so, when completely out of the blue the strange yellow clad man approached her. This time he was wearing a pair of dark shades and glancing around, looking very suspicious. "The rooster is in the nest," he said in a low voice.

"What?" She asked reflectively as he handed her an object. She glanced down to see a toy cap gun in her hands.

"Use it wisely." He said sagely before turning on his heel and stalking away again. What the hell was wrong with him, she wondered, and is it contagious? She sighed, shaking her long orange hair, before heading back to the toy section to return the gun to it's rightful place.

After that Nami was actively keeping an eye out for the strange man, wondering just how long he intended to lurk in the store and whether or not he had some mental issue causing him to act this way.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of static and her boss's voice calling her name on the walkie talkie on her hip. She brought it to her mouth and answered, "this is Nami. What's up?"

"We have a box of car air fresheners that need to be stocked, can you take care of it?"

"Yes, sir," she replied and headed to the back portion of the building to retrieve the box. Soon she was entering the automotive section to stock the new air fresheners. She heard the sound of something being sprayed before she entered the aisle and again was face to face with the strange man. She opened her mouth, intent on asking him what he thought he was doing but started coughing instead. The air was so thick with air freshener it was hard to breathe. As she coughed the box was taken out of her hands and she felt herself being steered away from the air freshener aisle. The air became easier to breathe and she became aware of a light patting on her back.

"You might want to avoid that area for a little while, until the scent disperses." The man said, flashing her a smile that was somewhere between a grin and a smirk. Smiling was something he should do more, she noted mentally. She was sure she had never seen a more attractive smile. She nodded to him, still gasping for breath, as he walked away. When she could speak her throat felt slightly raw.

"I wasn't supposed to be here today." She said to no one in particular.

At lunch time she was extremely happy to get a chance to sit down, and more importantly, get away from the strange antics of the yellow clad man. Even if the memory of his amazing smile was still fresh in the back of her mind his actions today were off putting. How long was he going to be here anyway? As far as she could tell he was just lurking and acting strange not actually shopping.

She made her way to the employee break room, retrieved her lunch box from the fridge and sat down at the table. She had just started eating when her coworkers Robin and Vivi joined her.

"Nami I didn't know you were working today?" Robin asked, slipping into the chair next to her friend.

She groaned, "I wasn't supposed to but Conis had to call in. I guess her father is really sick or something. Anyway I am only filling in 'til three and then I am out of here."

"Lucky for that at least," Vivi said, "I have been here since seven and won't be off until four."

Nami put her sandwich down as something occurred to her. both Vivi and Robin opened today, maybe they too had seen the strange yellow man. "Hey you guys haven't noticed anyone weird in the store today have you?"

Both of her coworkers laughed before Robin answered with a small smile. "If you mean the man who posed as a mannequin for at least five minutes before scaring some poor old woman-

"Or the man who cornered Kohza in house wares and talked to him about the possibility of unicorns having existed in the past?" Vivi interjected.

"Oh god," Nami groaned, "has he done all that as well?"

Nami's lunch, where she had hoped to escape the strange man's antics, spiraled down into a conversation of all his doings that day. In addition to arguing for belief in unicorns and scaring old women he had placed random pieces of lingerie in various shopper's carts, asked a newer stock boy to help him find a product that doesn't exist, glared menacingly at anyone who approached the Barbie aisle, and filled out a paper application to the store. Using an obviously fake name, Toby O. Notoby he answered the question "Where do you see yourself in three years" with: In a mirror as always.

She sighed, setting the paper down. He had to be doing this all on purpose, right? The question was why? What would posses a grown man to act like this in public? Noticing the clock and the end of her lunch time she abandoned her musings to hurry back to work.

After lunch Nami was assigned a register. She stood, bored out of her mind, at register 7 as she waited for something to do. The candy and random merchandise stocked at the front had all been organized earlier so even that task couldn't provide her with a distraction. She heard someone approaching and smiled to herself, glad for something to do. She turned to greet the customer but her voice caught in her throat when she saw it was him. He had a cart full of matches, lighter fluid, and small containers of propane but that wasn't what really grabbed her attention. It was the wide smile on his face. It was the same one as before but somehow with the addition of an arsonist's wish list sitting in the cart it was much creepier this time.

Neither spoke as he started to pull the items out of his cart and set them on to the counter. Not looking away from him, Nami grabbed the closest item, a box of long matches, and slid it over the scanner.

It didn't beep.

She tried again. Still no beep.

Looking down and inspecting the bar code she found the issue and to her horror all the items on the counter had the same problem. Someone had taken a thick black marker and crossed out the barcode.

"Is there a problem miss?" The man asked, finally breaking the silence.

She shook her head, "not really. I'll have to put these in by hand so it might take a moment though."

He nodded at her, still smiling that slightly creepy smile, "I'm in no rush." The way he said that gave her chills and she wasn't quite sure if it was a bad or good thing.

Conis arrived at two, saying her father was finally doing better, to work an impromptu evening shift. With just about an hour before she was free for the day Nami was making rounds through the store and straitening any messes she found. She should have known, with the kind of day today had been, that was just asking for trouble

One aisle had throw pillows from the next one it scattered around the ground as if someone had stood on the other side and tossed them. After picking them up and taking them to the correct spot she found that the rest of the pillows were tossed over the opposite aisle.

Every alarm clock had been set to go off at 2:15. Every. Single. One. It took almost ten minutes to finish turning off and disabling each one. As she worked she reminded herself over and over that she was almost free for the day. And to think, she thought, I wasn't supposed to be here today. I would have missed all of this _fun._

In office supplies all of the calculators, the cheap 99 cent ones, had been set to say various words. She wasn't even aware that you could make a calculator say 'bell', 'bliss', 'shell' or 'hose' but apparently it was possible.

She did see the strange man one more, though she would swear she saw him leave after buying his arson supplies. She passed him as he was standing by the fish tanks. She couldn't be sure, but she thought she heard him say "I know how you feel…" softly as she walked by.

To say Nami was relieved when she got to clock out at exactly three o'clock would be an understatement. It was, by far, the strangest day of work she had ever experienced in her life. Part of her was extremely happy to see it end, but another part couldn't help but wonder about the man. Even when she had rang him up earlier they hadn't spoken more than a few words. She was no closer to understanding why he had behaved the way he did now than when he had practically ambushed her as she walked in this morning.

She sighed as she walked to the front doors. Odds are she won't see him again and will never know what this was all about. However to her surprise she found him standing in front of the store with two other men.

"There," the man said sounding much more grumpy than before, as he pushed a wadded up paper into the hands of one of his companions, "I did them all. Happy?"

The other men smiled brightly at him, looking as though they were barely containing their laughter. One nodded as he chuckled and the spoke. "Yea, I'm happy. Let this be a reminder to you, don't bet against me in an eating contest!"

Nami gasped loudly. She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but that made everything make so much sense. He lost a bet. Of course.

"Who's that?" She looked up at the question and noticed all three men were staring at her.

"Oh, sorry," she said feeling her face flush. She turned intent on leaving quickly before she embarrassed herself further but stopped when a hand gently wrapped around her wrist.

The strange man who had made her day more _interesting_ was smiling down at her. It was the same smile from the air freshener incident. Part grin, part smirk, and for some reason it made her knees feel weak.

"I promise I'm not crazy," he said, his tone light and amused, "I lost a bet and my friends are dicks. I know today was a bit of a hassle for you and I'd like to buy you dinner to apologize if you'd allow me."

Nami smiled and thought to herself, maybe I was supposed to be here today.

* * *

I have no explanation for this, other then that it made me giggle while I wrote it.

Also I totally referenced a movie several times here though I don't know if anyone will get it. It makes me giggle to myself every time I read those lines though. Of course I reworded the quote without realizing it and this is already on tumblr so it's going to stay the way it is now.


	2. Chapter 2

Once Nami was home it occurred to her that agreeing to have dinner with a man she didn't know the first thing about, and had spent all day questioning his sanity, was probably not the smartest idea. She didn't get much time to dwell on it however, not after she noticed her kitchen. The walls, floor, countertops, cabinets, even the ceiling were covered with flour, sugar, eggs and other slimy materials she could not identify.

Nami seethed with rage as she laid eyes on the culprit behind the mess. Luffy was wearing her apron, her favorite one with a orange slice pattern and bright orange ruffles along the bottom, and so caked with powder he looked like a ghost.

She dropped her bag on the only spot that looked half clean before she rounded on him, fist raised. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?"

Luffy had the decency to sound timid when he answered, "I was trying to make pancakes."

She crossed the room, punching him on the top of the head. "So go home!"

"But there's no food there!" Luffy whined, jumping up to sit on the dirty counter. He fell to the floor with a grunt when she pushed him off the surface.

Nami ignored his complaints as she examined the extent of the damage. "Luffy?"

"Yeah?"

"Why is every cup I own dirty?"

"The recipe said I needed two cups of flour and I wasn't sure which cup it meant to I tried them all. Shishishishi."

She took a few deep, steadying breaths before looking at her friend again. "Luffy. I have a date tonight and now, thanks to you, I am not going to have time to get ready. Get out of my house before I hurt you."

Luffy nodded, quickly picking himself off the floor and rushing towards the door not even bothering to take her apron off. He stopped just short of the doorway when she called his name.

"Oh and Luffy?" She smiled at him, an all too familiar look of greed in her eyes, "for every minute I am late for my date I'm going to charge you 1,000 Beri."

He gasped, eyes wide and fearful for a moment. He had known Nami long enough to know she would make good on her threat. Without another word he darted out the back door.

Having successfully chased Luffy out Nami prepared to start cleaning her kitchen. She sighed as she filled the sink with warm soapy water. Her plan had been to take a shower and give herself plenty of time to prepare for her date. Law had said he would pick her up at seven which only gave her about three hours but she couldn't just leave it like that. The mess alone bothered her enough that she couldn't do that, but what would he think of her if he saw it? Filled with determination to finish quickly and still have time to prepare for her date Nami got to work.

* * *

Law was not by any means an unconfident man. He nearly always got whatever he set his eyes on, whether it was a prestigious position in the hospital, a specific item for his very private collection, or the attention of a beautiful woman. However, generally speaking, said woman had not seen him making an utter fool of himself in public for the better part of the day. Understandably he was resolved to make a good second impression.

He had traded his normal attire, his yellow hoodie and light blue and spotted jeans, for a black button up shirt, sleeves rolled neatly up his forearms to show off his tattoos, and pants several shades darker than his usual jeans. He had even forgone his beloved fuzzy white hat in favor of keeping his face uncovered.

Penguin and Shachi, whom he had tried to get rid of ever since leaving the store, had tried to tease him for the obvious extra effort he was making. Thankfully a sharp glare and a reminder of what he could do to them the next time they found themselves injured and in his operating room stopped their jeering in it's tracks.

Despite his threats he didn't truly escape his friends' scrutiny until he left to pick up his date. Why they insisted on hanging out at his house, waving from the doorway and calling out for him to "be a good boy and be home by eleven!" was beyond him. As he pulled his car out of the driveway he made a mental note to _enjoy_ the next time he was expected to patch one of them up. Forgetting to use anesthesia sounded like a fitting punishment.

He pushed his plans for revenge to the back of his mind as he followed the directions Nami had given him earlier. She didn't live very far from the store where she worked and soon he was pulling into the driveway of a small, quaint house with what looked like a small orchard in the back yard. He double checked that the number over the front door matched the address she had written down before getting out of the car and walking up to the door.

After inspecting the door frame and concluding there was no bell he knocked on the door and waited. For almost two minutes there was no sound of movement from inside and he was beginning to wonder if he hadn't knocked hard enough to be heard. His hand was raised, poised to knock again when he finally heard the sound of someone hurrying through the house. The door swung open, revealing a sight that caught his breath in his throat.

Nami had opened the door, hair wet and clinging to her bare shoulders, with nothing but a blue towel wrapped around her middle. The towel was just barely enough to cover her chest and still hang low enough to brush the tops of her thighs. By pure reflex he eyed her up and down, appreciating the creamy smoothness of her long legs, the curves the towel was clinging to and most of all the way she smiled at him. If she was uncomfortable with her lack of clothing she didn't show it.

"Law!" She said, sounding happy to see him, "come in." She stepped aside, opening the door fully and shutting it after he entered. "Sorry I am not quite ready, there was a bit of an emergency when I got home. There's tea in the kitchen if you want some while I finish up." She pointed out the way to the kitchen and, without waiting for a response from him, disappeared into one of the back rooms of the house.

Law frowned for a moment, not sure what to make of her unabashed demeanor before following her suggestion. Sure enough on the table in the kitchen was a pot of hot tea and a cup. He sat in one of the chairs, facing the entrance to the room so he would see Nami when she joined him, and poured the tea. As he sipped the hot liquid his eyes took in his surroundings. The room was very neat, like it was kept up with regularly but he could smell the telltale scent of cleaner in the air. Was she cleaning before he came? What kind of emergency happened earlier, he wondered.

He had finished his tea and was turned away from the door, rinsing his cup out in the sink, when Nami entered the room.

"Sorry about the wait, I hope you weren't too bored."

"Don't worry abo-" He replied as he turned, the words dying on his lips as he laid his eyes on her.

While her new outfit was more appropriate than the towel she had worn earlier, it didn't cover much more. Not that he minded of course, he had found her attractive in the khakis and polo shirt she had work at work. The tight white dress she wore now, with it's plunging neckline and the way it hugged her curves, flaring around her hips to swing hypnotically back and forth as she walked across the room, only complimented her beauty. Her vibrant hair was pulled up in an impressively complicated bun, exposing the graceful curve of her neck and shoulders. He smiled when he saw the blue tattoo on her left bicep.

Realizing he was staring, Law took a deep breath and tried speaking again. "You are well worth the wait."

Nami smiled at him, a slight flush of pink gracing her cheeks. "So what did you have in mind for dinner?"

* * *

Law pulled into the parking lot of The Baratie. It was one of the finest restaurants in the area so he figured it was a good bet she would like it. He was, after all, trying to make up for his first impression.

When Nami started to giggle he had a feeling it wasn't going as planned.

"What's so funny?"

She laughed again before smiling at him, "if you want an enjoyable dinner you do not to take me here."

He parked the car and turned in his seat to stare at her. What on Earth did she mean? He had eaten here on a number of occasions and aside from an overly enthusiastic blond man (he wasn't sure if he was a waiter, a cook, or just a crazy loiterer) that occasionally disturbed the peace it had always been a pleasant experience.

"My friend works here," she said, answering his unspoken question, "he tends to…fawn a bit over me. It's embarrassing really, but I'm not really sure how he would react to me coming in on a date."

"It can't possibly be that bad."

Her expression, eyebrow raised and her lips, her perfectly tinted and luscious lips, twisted into a knowing smirk, dared him to test his luck.

"Alright," he conceded, "where would you like to go?"

At Nami's suggestion 15 minutes later they were seated in a secluded corner of a little hole in the wall Italian restaurant. After they had ordered their entrees, received a complimentary bread basket and their wine was poured, Nami smiled at him over her glass. "This is nice. So tell me Law, what do you do when you are not terrorizing department stores?

"I cut people open and prod at their insides." He deadpanned, enjoying the look of shock that crossed her face before she tried to school her expression into something less horrified. He let his words really sink in before adding, "I'm a surgeon."

She let out a large breath, obviously relieved. "That was not funny," she playfully scolded him as he laughed softly at her reaction.

"Yes it was," he said, his tone amused, "and what about you? What do you do when not being terrorized by customers?"

Nami shrugged, reaching for the bread basket, "school mostly. Bread?" She asked, offering him a slice.

He shook his head, "I don't like bread. What are you studying?"

"Operational meteorology. What kind of person doesn't like bread?"

Law paused, his wine glass almost to his lips, "lots of people don't like bread. What does Operational Meteorology entail?"

She frowned, "I've never met anyone who didn't like bread before. Operational Meteorology is a specialized division of atmospheric meteorology that studies air pressure, temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction and then applies mathematical relationships to that data to predict the weather." Her answer sounded rehearsed and thought out, as if it was a question she was asked often.

"Well now you have," he said, sounding almost defensive before smiling, deciding to tease her a little, "so you are going to be a weather girl."

"That's just weird Law," she shook her head before shooting him a half serious glare, "and I am _not_ going to be a weather girl! I'm going to be the smart person who tells the weather girl what to say and makes three times the money."

"Ah so you are in it for the money?"

"Well yeah, I mean I enjoy the work as well but who isn't in their career for money. Why are you a surgeon?"

Because society disapproves dissecting people for fun, he thought to himself, unsure of how she would react to that and instead said, "I guess you could say I enjoy the work as well."

She nodded, frowning into her glass. When she finally spoke her voice was soft, as if she was lost in her thoughts. "When I was little things were always really tight financially. Bellemere always did her best to provide for my sister and I but…well I guess growing up that way is part of why being financially secure is so important to me."

Law thought carefully over her words, letting the unspoken implications sink in before asking. "Who's Bellemere?"

Nami lifted her head and smiled at him, "my adopted mother. She never did like being called "mom", said it made her feel old."

The waiter approached with their entrees, chicken cacciatore for Nami and the shrimp scampi special for Law. He waited until the waiter was out of earshot before laughing softly.

"What's funny?" Nami asked, glancing around to see if she had missed something amusing in the dining room.

"Nothing just, well what are the odds that we are both adopted? Though I'd wager you like your adopted family much more than I do mine."

Nami smiled, "I love my family. I wouldn't trade them for anything."

They finished dinner in relative quiet, each enjoying their meal and the comfortable companionship of the other. After paying and stepping out on to the street they turned and both spoke at the same time.

"What would you like to do now?"

"Let's walk down to the pier."

They stared, his golden eyes never leaving her dark brown ones, for a long moment before she laughed lightly. "I guess neither of us wants to go home yet. The pier is nearby, fancy a walk?"

He nodded, motioning for her to lead the way.

They walked side by side down the sidewalk, Nami guiding them toward the pier. She snuck a glance up at him when his face was turned, something in the distance catching his attention. He was extremely handsome, almost enough to make her feel self conscious if she hadn't noticed the way he had looked at her earlier in the kitchen. She was actually glad he had been taken by surprise when she had opened the door so he didn't notice the way she had checked him out. Unlike the hoodie he was in that morning the dress shirt he now wore fit his upper body perfectly, showing off his lean, muscular torso and arms. That, combined with the strong line of his jaw, his rare smile, and the dark, enticing tattoos she had not yet asked about, made him one of the sweetest eye candies Nami had ever seen.

She looked away, shaking her head and trying to fight the blush she could feel spreading across her cheeks. He may be gorgeous but that was no excuse to gawk at him like a school girl.

Suddenly he grabbed her, pulling her body towards him and holding her up against his chest. His perfectly muscular chest that she had just been trying to stop thinking about.

"Law!" she exclaimed, both in surprise and embarrassment, instinctively trying to push away from him. He held her in place but turned them both slightly just in time for her to see three teenage boys on skate boards speed past them right where she had been standing.

Realization dawned on her as she relaxed in his arms. His grip loosened once the boys had past them and she stepped back just far enough to look up at him but not enough to leave the warmth of his arms.

She could feel her cheeks burning as she mumbled, "thanks," embarrassed about her overreaction.

He smiled, that warm grin she was starting to love seeing, "of course." He started walking again, pulling her along gently.

Nami kept her head down as they walked, intent on hiding her face until it returned to normal. She was trying very hard not to think about how nice it had felt to be pressed up against him and she certainly was trying _not_ thinking about how his arm was still wrapped around her waist as they walked.

Try as she might she couldn't manage it.


End file.
